高中英语选修8课文Word文档下载推荐.docx

高中英语选修8课文Word文档下载推荐.docx

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THESPANISH

Inthe18thcenturyCaliforniawasruledbySpain.SpanishsoldiersfirstarrivedinSouthAmericaintheearly16thcentury,whentheyfoughtagainstthenativepeopleandtooktheirland.Twocenturieslater,theSpanishhadsettledinmostpartsofSouthAmericaandalongthenorthwestcoastofwhatwenowcalltheUnitedStates.OfthefirstSpanishtogotoCalifornia,themajoritywerereligiousmen,whoseministrywastoteachtheCatholicreligiontothenatives.In1821,thepeopleofMexicogainedtheirindependencefromSpain.CaliforniathenbecamepartofMexico.In1846theUnitedStatesdeclaredwaronMexico,andafterthewarwonbytheUSA,MexicohadtogiveCaliforniatotheUSA.However,thereisstillastrongSpanishinfluenceinthestate.Thatiswhytodayover40ofCaliforniansspeakSpanishasafirstorsecondlanguage.

RUSSIANS

Intheearly1800s,Russianhunters,whohadoriginallygonetoAlaska,begansettlinginCalifornia.Todaythereareabout25,000Russian-AmericanslivinginandaroundSanFrancisco.

GOLDMINERS

In1848,notlongaftertheAmerican-Mexicanwar,goldwasdiscoveredinCalifornia.Thedreamofbecomingrichquicklyattractedpeoplefromallovertheworld.Thenearest,andthereforethefirsttoarrive,wereSouthAmericansandpeoplefromtheUnitedStates.ThenadventurersfromEuropeandAsiasoonfollowed.Infact,fewachievedtheirdreamofbecomingrich.Somediedorreturnedhome,butmostremainedinCaliforniatomakealifeforthemselvesdespitegreathardship.Theysettledinthenewtownsoronfarms.BythetimeCaliforniaelectedtobecomethethirty-firstfederalstateoftheUSAin1850,itwasalreadyamulticulturalsociety

LATERARRIVALS

AlthoughChineseimmigrantsbegantoarriveduringtheGoldRushPeriod,itwasthebuildingoftherailnetworkfromthewesttotheeastcoastthatbroughtevenlargernumberstoCaliforniainthe1860s.Today,Chinese-AmericansliveinallpartsofCalifornia,althoughalargepercentagehavechosentostayinthe"

Chinatowns"

ofLosAngelesandSanFrancisco.

OtherimmigrantssuchasItalians,mainlyfishermenbutalsowinemakers,arrivedinCaliforniainthelate19thcentury.In1911immigrantsfromDenmarkestablishedatownoftheirown,whichtodaystillkeepsuptheirDanishculture.Bythe1920sthefilmindustrywaswellestablishedinHollywood,California.TheindustryboomattractedEuropeansincludingmanyJewishpeople.TodayCaliforniahasthesecondlargestJewishpopulationintheUnitedStates.

JapanesefarmersbeganarrivinginCaliforniaatthebeginningofthe20thcentury,andsincethe1980salotmorehavesettledthere.PeoplefromAfricahavebeenlivinginCaliforniasincethe1800s,whentheymovednorthfromMexico.However,evenmorearrivedbetween1942and1945toworkintheshipandaircraftindustries.

MOSTRECENTARRIVALS

Inmorerecentdecades,CaliforniahasbecomehometomorepeoplefromAsia,includingKoreans,Cambodians,VietnameseandLaotians.Sinceitsbeginninginthe1970s,thecomputerindustryhasattractedIndiansandPakistanistoCalifornia.

THEFUTURE

Peoplefromdifferentpartsoftheworld,attractedbytheclimateandthelifestyle,stillimmigratetoCalifornia.Itisbelievedthatbeforelongthemixofnationalitieswillbesogreatthattherewillbenodistinctmajorracialorculturalgroups,butsimplyamixtureofmanyracesandcultures.

选修8Unit2Cloning-Reading

CLONING:

WHEREISITLEADINGUS?

Cloninghasalwaysbeenwithusandisheretostay.Itisawayofmakinganexactcopyofanotheranimalorplant.Ithappensinplantswhengardenerstakecuttingsfromgrowingplantstomakenewones.Italsohappensinanimalswhentwinsidenticalinsexandappearanceareproducedfromthesameoriginalegg.Thefactisthatthesearebothexamplesofnaturalclones.

Cloninghastwomajoruses.Firstly,gardenersuseitallthetimetoproducecommercialquantitiesofplants.Secondly,itisvaluableforresearchonnewplantspeciesandformedicalresearchonanimals.Cloningplantsisstraightforwardwhilecloninganimalsisverycomplicated.Itisadifficulttasktoundertake.Manyattemptstoclonemammalsfailed.Butatlastthedeterminationandpatienceofthescientistspaidoffin1996withabreakthrough-thecloningofDollythesheep.Theprocedureworkslikethis:

………………

Ontheonehand,thewholescientificworldfollowedtheprogressofthefirstsuccessfulclone,Dollythesheep.Thefactthatsheseemedtodevelopnormallywasveryencouraging.ThencamethedisturbingnewsthatDollyhadbecomeseriouslyill.CloningscientistswerecastdowntofindthatDolly'

sillnessesweremoreappropriatetoamucholderanimal.AltogetherDollylivedsixandahalfyears,halfthelengthofthelifeoftheoriginalsheep.Sadlythesamearbitraryfateaffectedotherspecies,suchasclonedmice.Thequestionsthatconcernedallscientistswere:

"

Wouldthisbeamajordifficultyforallclonedanimals?

Wouldithappenforever?

Coulditbesolvedifcorrectionsweremadeintheirresearchprocedure?

"

Ontheotherhand,Dolly'

sappearanceraisedastormofobjectionsandhadagreatimpactonthemediaandpublicimagination.Itbecamecontroversial.Itsuddenlyopenedeverybody'

seyestothepossibilityofusingcloningtocureseriousillnessesandeventoproducehumanbeings.

Althoughatpresenthumaneggcellsandembryosneededforcloningresearcharedifficulttoobtain,newspaperswroteofevilleadershopingtoclonethemselvestoattaintheirambitions.Religiousleadersalsoraisedmoralquestions.Governmentsbecamenervousandmoreconservative.Somebegantoreformtheirlegalsystemsandforbaderesearchintohumancloning,butothercountrieslikeChinaandtheUK,continuedtoaccumulateevidenceoftheabundantmedicalaidthatcloningcouldprovide.However,scientistsstillwonderwhethercloningwillhelporharmusandwhereitisleadingus.

THERETURNOFTHEDINOSAURS?

Thepossibilityofcloningfierceandextinctwildanimalshasalwaysexcitedfilmmakers.Andtheyarenottheonlyones!

ThepopularityoffilmssuchasJurassicPark,inwhichascientistclonesseveralkindsofextinctdinosaurs,proveshowtheideastruckamixtureoffearandexcitementintopeople'

shearts.Butinfactwearealongwayfrombeingabletocloneextinctanimals.Scientistsarestillexperimentingwithcloningmammals.Thisisbecausethecloningofmammalsisstillanewscienceanditsstoryonlybeganseriouslyinthe1950sasthislistshows:

1950scloningoffrogs1996firstcloneofamammal:

Dollythesheep

1970sresearchusingtheembryosofmice2000cowgavebirthtoabison

1979workonembryosofsheepandmice2001China'

sfirstclonedtwincalves

1981firstexperimentalclonesofmice2002firstclonedcats

1983firstexperimentalclonesofcows2005firstcloneddog

…

Fromtimetotimepeoplesuggestthatextinctanimalslikedinosaurs,canpossiblybebroughtbacktolifethroughcloning.Unfortunately,withwhatweknownow,thisiseitherimpossibleorunsuitable.Therearemanyreasons.

◎TheinitialrequirementisthatyouneedperfectDNA（whichgivesinformationforhowcells

aretogrow）.

◎Alleffortsofcloningananimalwillbeinvainifthereisnotenoughdiversityinthegrouptoovercomeillnesses.Diversityinagroupmeanshavinganimalswiththeirgenesarrangedindifferentways.Theadvantageisthatifthereisanewillnesssomeoftheseanimalsmaydie,butotherswillsurviveandpassontheabilitytoresistthatdiseasetothenextgeneration.Thegreatdrawbacktocloningagroupofanimalsisthattheywouldallhavethesamearrangementofgenesandsomightdieofthesameillness.Thennoneofthemwouldbelefttocontinuethespecies.

◎Itwouldbeunfairtocloneanyextinctanimalsiftheyweretoliveinazoo.Asuitablehabitatwouldbeneededforthemtoleadanaturallife.

Basedonwhatweknownow,youcannotcloneanimalsthathavebeenextinctlongerthan10,000years.Actually,dinosaursdisappeared65,000,000yearsago.Sothechanceofdinosaurseverreturningtotheearthismerelyadream.

选修8Unit3

Inventorsandinventions-Reading

THEPROBLEMOFTHESHRIKES

WhenIcalledupmymotherinthecountrysideonthetelephoneshewasveryupset."

Therearesomesnakesinourcourtyard,"

shetoldme."

Snakescomenearthehousenowandthen,andtheyseemtohavemadetheirhomehere,notfarfromthewalnuttree.Canyougetridofthemplease?

Ifeltveryproud.Herewasachancefor.metodistinguishmyselfbyinventingsomethingmercifulthatwouldcatchsnakesbutnotharmt